Albert Loved Sylvia
by theplaywrite
Summary: Sylvia betrays Albert's love and now what was carved into that tree is no longer true.


Albert Loved Sylvia

Albert and Laura waited patiently in Doctor Baker's office. Sylvia Webb had passed out after school from exhaustion. Albert told the doctor that he knew Sylvia's father worked her hard on their farm and she must have been exhausted from that. Doc Baker still did a full examination just to be safe. After what seemed like a lifetime, Hiram finally returned, now knowing the full extent of Sylvia's condition.

"How is she, doc?" Albert asked immediately.

"She's resting. The poor girl is exhausted." He explained what was already known.

"We told you it's all her pa's doing." Laura added.

Doc Baker nodded. "I understand that, but there is something else."

"What else is wrong with her?" Albert asked again, still caring enough about Sylvia to want to help her get through her situation.

"Albert, would you wait outside?"

Albert shook his head. "Doc Baker, I want to know what's wrong with Sylvia. I was her beau before her pa forbid me from seeing her and before they were away for that whole month."

"You were?" Doc Baker thought he had his answer. "How long were you two together?"

"A couple months. Why?"

"Albert...she's with child."

Time stood still. Sylvia was pregnant and Doctor Baker was assuming Albert was the father after his last statement. Albert knew he never was with Sylvia like that, so his mind instantly went to her being with somebody else.

"Have you and she-?"

"No." Albert cut Doctor Baker off before he could accuse him of taking advantage of Sylvia. "No. No! I never!" Albert started trembling. He loved that girl and this is how she repaid him. So much frustration, anger, pain and disappear began building up inside of him. "Oh God!"

Albert rushed out the door. Laura tried to stop her brother, but it was no use. "Albert." Laura turned back to Hiram. "He's not lying, Doc."

Doctor Baker lowered his head. As much as he wanted to believe Albert was not the one who got Sylvia pregnant, he could not be certain.

Behind the curtain, in the examination room of the office, Sylvia sighed after hearing Albert scream and run out of the room. She made a mistake.

* * *

Somewhere out in the fields behind the little house, Albert was leaning against a fence post, trying to get a grip on his emotions. He went from crying to cursing to himself in anger. Cursing Sylvia's name. Then, Albert noticed his pa walking towards him.

"Albert. Laura told me what happened." Charles put a hand on his son's shoulder.

"I loved her, pa. Even after I couldn't see her, I still loved her. And I thought she still loved me." Albert took a few deep breaths and changed his tone. "I hate her."

Charles sighed. It was a tough situation his son was in, but he thought he knew Albert well enough to know what was really going inside of him. "Albert, you don't hate Sylvia. You still love her and that's why it hurts so much."

"No!" Albert practically screamed, turning to face his father with his emotions all over the place again. "And she doesn't love me! I can't believe I thought she ever did."

"Albert, don't say that." Charles was now finding it difficult to comfort Albert. He truly had no idea of the turmoil his son was going through. "You know this could have happened against her will."

"You mean Laura and Doc don't know who she was with?"

Charles shook his head. "Laura said that when Sylvia's father came to pick her up he wouldn't talk to the Doc, or even let Sylvia speak. Don't be so quick to judge her."

"I hate her." That statement came out so blunt it had to be the truth.

"Albert, stop it. You still care for her. And that girl is going to need all the caring and support she can get."

Albert took a few steps back. Was Charles siding with Sylvia? "You want me to support her after what she did to me? She broke my heart in the worst of ways and you want me to help her?"

"Albert, what if it was forced on her? What if someone took advantage of her and caused her great pain?" Charles repeated, thinking that was what he needed to say. He did not know the whole truth, yet kept insisting this.

"I can never be sure of that. Or maybe it's not that...is it, pa? You want me to support her because...because you think it's mine. Because you think I did it."

"Albert! I never said that!" Charles stepped closer to Albert with a demanding voice.

"You didn't have too! Doc Baker probably thinks it was me because of how long I said Sylvia and I were together. Her pa probably thinks it was me because of all the times I had to sneak around just to see her."

"Albert!"

"No, Pa! No more! Just leave me alone." Albert sprinted off, just like when he was running out of Doctor Baker's office. The conversation with his father was no help and only hurt Albert even more.

* * *

"Pa! Don't! It wasn't him." Sylvia pleaded with her father as he loaded his gun.

Hector Webb was able to conceal his emotions in Doctor Baker's office, but now he needed to rage out against the boy who got his daughter pregnant. "He'd been sneaking around here! I warned you, Sylvia!" The man shoved his daughter out of his way.

"Pa! I swear to you! It wasn't Albert!" Sylvia screamed at the top of her lungs. She had done Albert wrong and did not want him to pay for her mistakes.

Webb stopped at his daughter's statement. "Well then who was it?"

"That month..." Sylvia began to stutter. How could she explain this to her father? "That month you took me away from Walnut Grove...to get away from him...in Minneapolis...there was another boy."

Another boy? Webb knew that his daughter attracted young men and he tried to keep her away from them. That was until Albert Ingalls came along and wrapped Sylvia around his finger. He forbid her from seeing the Ingalls boy and threatened him to stay away. The last thing Webb would have imagined was his daughter finding another boy to disgrace him with.

"You whore." Webb said under his breath.

Sylvia stepped back in shock. "Pa!"

Webb stomped towards his daughter. "Either you're a whore or Ingalls is to blame!"

Sylvia did not know what to say. She did not want Albert to feel the wrath of her father over her mistake, but being called something that vulgar by her own father drove a knife into her already broken heart. The only way to hopefully repay Albert for her betrayal was saying the hard truth. "I'm a whore." She whispered.

"God damn you, Sylvia. Why? Why did you have to do this?"

Sylvia let her head hang low. She felt so ashamed of herself. If only she could run to Albert's love for comfort like she used to. But she could not do that because Albert did not love Sylvia anymore.


End file.
